Buttigieg to quarantine after member of security detail tests positive for coronavirus

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for the coronavirus, the Department of Transportation announced Monday.

The agent was with Buttigieg earlier Monday morning prior to receiving the positive test and is therefore considered a close contact, chief of staff Laura Schiller said in a statement. Buttigieg has since tested negative for COVID-19 and is not showing any symptoms. 

“Secretary Buttigieg will take all necessary steps to ensure there is no spread, including quarantining for a period of 14 days, and will continue to follow all other CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines,” Schiller said. “He received the first dose of the vaccination in recent weeks, and will receive the second dose when his quarantine is completed.”

One other member of the secretary’s security detail was identified as a close contact and will also self-quarantine, the department said.

Buttigieg was sworn in last week as the secretary of Transportation and is the first Biden administration Cabinet official to go into quarantine as a result of exposure to the coronavirus.

While he has received one dose of the vaccine, experts say individuals do not develop full protection from the virus until a few weeks after receiving their second dose.

Buttigieg, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, met with transit workers at Union Station in Washington, D.C., last week during his first public event as Transportation secretary.